It ain't pretty, but cyanobacteria like this is now an even more attractive source of renewable biofuels thanks to self-destructing bacteria (Photo: Christian Fischer Creative Commons)

Article Summary

A key factor is determining the eco-friendliness of any biofuel is how much energy is required to produce it. If the energy expended in producing it, which more often than not comes from fossil fuels, is too high then the environmental benefits of the fuel can be questionable. Researchers have now developed a process that removes a key obstacle to producing lower-cost, renewable biofuels by programming a photosynthetic microbe to self-destruct.